The future development of the European Union will be determined by two processes: the accession of ten and even more countries, and the ongoing process of internal reform and deepening of European integration, known as Agenda 2000. Both processes are closely linked and will change the face of the Union in the 21st century.

TEPSA institutes in the 15 EU countries as well as four associated partner institutes from Central and Eastern Europe initiated this semi-annual stock-taking in order to monitor the main features and problems of the accession and negotiation process as well as positions and bargaining strategies of the actors involved. A standardised questionnaire was used by all institutes. Due to the specific positions of the applicant countries, not all parts of the questionnaire were as relevant to them as the present member states. Therefore, the country reports from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia are entirely presented in a separate section of this survey.

This survey was conducted on the basis of a questionnaire, sent out in December 2000. Most institutes replied until the end of February 2001. Enlargement/Agenda 2000-Watch No. 3 Nice uptade covers the time period between November 2000 and March 2001.

The Institut für Europäische Politik is particularly grateful to the Otto Wolff-Foundation, Cologne, and the Centre International de Formation Européenne (CIFE), Nice, for supporting the IEP’s work on the project. CIFE is financially supported by the European Union.